"We've ramped down, they've ramped up. The main production floor is occupied by them now. We're occupying a lesser space.

"For the past four years all the directors on Deus Ex were sitting in the same area, with tons of concept art and design papers all pinned up on the walls... the day we went to take them down all the directors of Thief were [appropriately - Ed] sitting in our places. It was a weird day."

Jacques-Belletete revealed how both teams are "entirely separate" and that he'll have "no role at all" on Thief 4.

"It's a really kickass team [on Thief 4]," he enthused, "some great people."

"The Art Director is a good friend of mine, and it's in really good hands."

He added: "I cannot say anything about the game apart from that it'll rock your shorts."

Talk of a possible Game Developers Conference reveal earlier this year amounted to nothing. But we were treated to what may turn out to be our first ever glimpse of Thief 4, courtesy of sketchy off-screen photography.

All eyes now turn to this summer's E3 event as a likely platform for the game to be revealed.